The escalation of geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East has driven an explosive increase in on-chain crude oil trading data
OKX Ventures has released data on social media indicating that the escalation of geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East has led to an explosive increase in on-chain crude oil trading data. On Hyperliquid, the 24-hour trading volume of the CL-USDC perpetual contract, which tracks WTI oil prices, surged from an average of $21 million before the crisis to between $1.2 billion and $1.99 billion. At peak times, crude oil trading volume even surpassed Ethereum (ETH), becoming the second-largest asset by trading volume on the network.
The trading volume on centralized exchanges (CEX) also saw a significant rise. According to Gate's data, the 24-hour trading volume of its Brent crude oil (XBR) contract skyrocketed by 951%, while the trading volume of the WTI crude oil (XTI) contract jumped nearly 397%. The inflow of funds and open interest (OI) data indicate that a large amount of institutional and retail capital is flooding into the market. Hyperliquid's crude oil OI is currently stable between $183 million and $290 million, suggesting that the funds are not only engaging in ultra-short-term speculation but are also establishing long-term macro hedging positions.
Hyperliquid's HIP-3 market (which supports the listing of traditional financial assets without permission) has recently seen total open interest (OI) surpassing $1.2 billion, setting a new historical high.








